


Wind in your Sails

by VarjoRuusu



Category: Black Sails
Genre: 20 years later, Billy bashing, Billy gets his due, Billy hanging, I don't like Billy in season 4, M/M, Past FlintHamilton, Pre-ish SilverFlint, Right before Treasure Island, Treasure Island, past Silver/Madi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-08
Updated: 2017-05-08
Packaged: 2018-10-29 09:25:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10851111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VarjoRuusu/pseuds/VarjoRuusu
Summary: Havana, 1735. Twenty years later, Silver wants his revenge on Billy Bones, only he's not the only man looking. A surprising run in with his former captain, and they're away to find Flint's treasure and give Billy the end he deserves.If you don't like Billy dying, don't read this.





	Wind in your Sails

**Author's Note:**

> I needed to be mean to Billy after the season finale. I just...he pissed me off so much.

Havana – 1735

John Silver watched the door, eyes scanning every man who entered the tavern, searching for his former shipmate. Billy Bones had vanished three weeks before, near Kingston, and an informant had gotten word to Silver that he was hiding out among the Spanish in Havana. After all these years Silver was still impressed with Billy's ability to hide anywhere, considering he was head and shoulders taller than almost any man in the Caribbean since the death of Charles Vane, and was almost as distinct as Silver himself. Fortunately, after an age of piracy and sailing around the Caribbean, a one-legged man didn't stand out quite so much anymore.

Silver had a pipe between his lips, squinting through his good eye at each man who passed him in his shadowed corner. His right eye was a haze of shapes, damaged in a fight some ten years before and serving no use when it came to searching faces. He took a sip of ale, waiting quietly for the man he once called friend to appear.

“You're a hard man to track down,” a gruff voice said beside him and only years of practice kept Silver from jumping as he turned. A man had taken the empty chair across from him, his whole body obscured by the shadows and a large brimmed hat pulled low over his eyes. Silver frowned, somewhere in his mind recognizing the figure, the shape, but not being able to recall.

“Who's looking for me?” he grunted, turning to keep both the door and the stranger in his vision. He didn't need to see the man clearly to know he moved, so his right eye would have to do.

“You're looking for Billy Bones. I know where he is, what he's doing, what he wants,” the other man said and Silver twitched, the voice tugging at his mind, pulling at memories decades past.

“And how do you know I'm looking for Billy Bones?” Silver asked, his attention now piqued as he turned to fully look at the intruder seated across from him. The other man lifted his head just enough to reveal a wide, threatening grin, mouth framed by a grey beard that still held streaks of brilliant copper and Silver's heart stopped.

No. No it couldn't be him. He was dead. He had been dead for nearly nine years. Silver's hand went to his sword as the man looked up fully, two bright green orbs coming into the light and Silver found himself looking into the eyes of Captain James Flint for the first time in almost fifteen years.

“You're dead,” he whispered quietly and Flint's grin widened.

“I am, for all intents and purposes. What better way to exact my revenge?” the ghost asked.

“Revenge?” Silver asked, hand tightening on his sword. He was uneasy, he had never expected to see Flint again, much less here, in Havana, following him.

“That little shit ruined everything I had planned for Nassau,” Flint said, his grin fading as his eyes finally turned away from Silver and locked on the door. “I want him to pay. I'm assuming you do as well, or you wouldn't be here,” he said, raising an eyebrow as he glanced at Silver.

A familiarity washed over Silver and he grinned suddenly. “I'm only here for the gold,” he said, parroting his words from years before and Flint chuckled.

“Of course you are,” he said, not believing it for a minute. “How's Madi?” he asked, changing the subject and not missing the flicker in Silver's eyes.

“She...passed. Some years ago. The colony has moved to a new place and her daughter is in charge now,” Silver said.

“Her daughter?” Flint asked. Silver looked away.

“Our daughter,” he said quietly. “I couldn't stay, after Madi died. I left, I went looking for Billy when I heard the rumors that he'd been rescued from Skeleton Island and had a map to that damned _Urca_ treasure.”

“I have to give him credit for finding it,” Flint muttered, glaring at the door as if Billy would materialize.

“And Thomas?” Silver asked quietly, guessing he already knew the answer.

“He took a fever about six years ago, during the winter,” Flint said softly. He didn't need to elaborate that Thomas had not survived. He wouldn't be here if he had.

“I'm sorry,” Silver said and Flint turned to him, a genuine smile on his face.

“Don't be sorry, John, you gave me nearly fifteen years with him. Never be sorry for that,” he said and Silver smiled sadly, nodding.

“How long have you been looking for me?” he asked, reaching for the pipe that lay forgotten on the table.

“Almost a year now. It's very hard to find someone who doesn't want to be found, especially when you can't ask outright,” Flint chuckled.

“My apologies,” Silver smirked, not sorry at all. It was good to know that he was hard to find, it meant he had been covering his trail well.

“I heard about Jack,” Flint said after a moment and Silver nodded. Jack had be hung in Port Royal not long after they parted ways. “Anne?” Flint asked and Silver chuckled.

“She had a baby, would you believe it, a girl. I helped them disappear, they're living somewhere in France now I think,” he said with a broad grin. He'd only met the little girl once but she had been the spitting image of her mother even at only two years old.

“I'm glad she got away from all this,” Flint sighed, waving his hand at the tavern, bustling with Spanish privateers and soldiers, and the occasional Englishman. “Billy is here, he's meeting with some men, trying to acquire a ship.”

“So my contact was right,” Silver nodded, even though there was still no sign of Billy and at this point, Silver didn't expect him to show that particular night. No sooner had the thought crossed his mind when the door opened and the unmistakable silhouette of Billy Bones appeared. _Speak of the devil and he shall appear._

Flint sank back into the shadows, hat dropping back over his face as Silver turned, squinting at Billy through his hair with his good eye. Billy was glancing around, cautious, but not paranoid. Good, he didn't know Silver had caught his scent again. As they watched Billy sat at a table of rough looking men, a few of whom Silver recognized from their days in Nassau, mostly Rackham's old men, and he ground his teeth in irritation. None of those men should still be on the account, but clearly the gold of the _Urca de Lima_ was still tantalizing enough to draw men out of the woodwork.

“Do you have a plan?” Flint asked quietly and Silver glanced at him.

“Of course I have a plan,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes at his former Captain and Flint raised his eyebrows.

“Care to share?”

Silver opened his mouth then paused, glancing back at Billy. “Actually, I have a better plan. The original plan was to ambush him, steal his fucking map, go get the treasure, and then kill him. Slowly. But now you're here,” he turned a wicked grin on Flint. “We can just go get the chest and have the pleasure of watching him be killed by whatever crew he wrangles to go after it, since they'll arrive and find nothing. Shame though about not getting to kill him slowly with my own hands.”

“You think I can still find it?” Flint asked in disbelief, for the moment disregarding the manner in which his former bosun was to leave this world.

“You would never forget where you buried that cache,” Silver chuckled. “You'd probably still know after you died.

“I am dead, remember?” Flint grinned, leaning forward. His eyes were sparking with that fire that had almost driven him to destruction and Silver felt a thrill go through him, the kind that only came when someone was promising him adventure or very large payday. Both, in this case.

“Well then, it's a good thing I don't need to depend on you for a ship anymore,” Silver said, returning the grin. “I have my own.”

Flint chuckled and nodded. He was more than happy to sail aboard Silver's ship, after all, Flint hadn't had a ship of his own since the _Walrus_ sank in the cove on Skeleton Island, and he wasn't sure he ever wanted to captain one again. He'd let a quiet life with Thomas in the Carolinas, farming for the most part, and while he was ready to get back on the water, he never wanted to again become the man he had been when he'd been 'Captain Flint'.

“Are you ready to sail?” he asked and Silver nodded, reaching for his crutch. They threw a glance at Billy, and seeing that he was occupied with his back to them, slipped away.

They left out the back of the tavern and made their way down to the harbor, boarding Silver's ship, _The Scott,_ the orders being relayed quietly to get them underway. Flint didn't recognize any of the men on Silver's crew, all the better for him. He had been serious when he disappeared, he didn't want to come back to this life. To sail perhaps, but not to pirate. For now, he only wanted Billy to suffer, the last in a string of quiet visits and lives ended where they deserved. There hadn't been many men left that had been involved in one or another of the mutinies during his time as captain of the _Walrus_ , but there had been enough to keep him busy for a while.

“Come on,” Silver grinned. “You can draw me a map.”

Flint scoffed, recalling a time so many years ago when it was Silver who had the information he needed to lead to the _Urca_ treasure, and taking some amusement in the reversal of the situation. He followed Silver into the captains cabin, glancing around as he went to the map table.

“You seem to have gained an affinity for books,” he smirked, jerking his head at the wall covered almost completely with shelves as he sorted through the maps for the one he'd need to plot their destination. Silver gave the shelf a lingering glance.

“You left some...impressions,” he said at last. “Not least of which being an affinity for attacking ships that are clearly outside the ability of your crew to take, yet they manage it every time, and I think they're happier for the thrill of it.”

Flint snorted. “Are you blaming me for becoming reckless in your old age?” he asked, finding the map he wanted and putting it on top of the pile. He began to measure between the islands, plotting exactly where they wanted to sail to reach Skeleton Island and the cache.

“In my old age? I was far more reckless when I was younger,” Silver reminded him and Flint thought back to the days when Silver had stolen the schedule and was doing everything he could, smart or stupid, to stay alive.

“That may actually be true,” Flint allowed with a chuckle. “It's about five days sail from here,” he told the other man as he finished. “We'll need a shore party, only two or three men. Someone has to carry the chest back to the ship once we dig it up.”

Silver nodded, watching him place the last line on the map, forming a perfect X in the middle of the ocean.

“What will you do? After?” he asked, his fingers pressed together as his good eye trailed their course on the map. Flint shrugged.

“I haven't thought much about it. I won't return to pirating, if that's what you're hoping to convince me of.”

Silver shook his head. “Perhaps you could visit the Maroon colony again. I haven't been back in far too long and Isabelle would be beside herself to meet you. She grew up on your stories, you know.”

“Isabelle,” Flint chuckled. “Why on earth did you give your daughter a Spanish name?”

“We didn't,” Silver chuckled. “We named her Elizabeth. She likes Isabelle better and she's as stubborn as her mother.”

“I can only imagine,” Flint grinned. “What happened to your eye?” he asked and Silver glanced up, startled. Most days he forgot that his eye showed any outward damage, but there was a large scar across his face and the eye itself was a covered in a white haze.

“I caught the wrong end of a dagger, about ten or eleven years ago I think,” he said, rubbing the scar. “I can still see shapes, but any detail is gone.”

“That would explain why you don't wear an eyepatch, like a proper pirate,” Flint grinned, skipping out of range when Silver tried to knock the other man's shins with his crutch.

“I don't need you, you know,” Silver threatened lightly. “I can just follow Billy to the gold.”

Flint chuckled, leaning against the desk. “It's good to see you,” he said quietly after a moment and Silver's smile softened.

“It's good to see you too. Time has been good to you,” he said and Flint shook his head, still smiling.

“Thomas was good to me,” he said. “Good for me. I healed, with him. Became more of who I used to be. And you, you seem to have thrived as the captain of a ship.”

“I get by,” Silver shrugged. “Madi helped, after the war. And Isabelle. I could feel almost normal for a while.”

“Why now?” Flint asked, referring to Billy.

“I could ask you the same,” Silver said, eyebrows raised and Flint shrugged.

“I don't like loose ends, and I have nothing else to do with myself right at the moment,” he said quietly. “Mourning Thomas a second time was hard, but not as unbearable as before. He made me promise I would move on, and I will, as soon as this is finished. I'll find a new life again, somehow.”

The ensuing silence was interrupted after a few moments by a knock, and Silver's quartermaster entered. The man looked between his captain and their passenger for a perhaps slightly longer than was necessary before he enquired as to their course. Silver nodded to the map as Flint held it out, hiding his smirk at the sight of the man about to start quivering in his boots.

“But captain,” the quartermaster said, looking hard at the map. “There's nothing there. Just open seas.”

“Oh it's there, Joseph,” Silver said with a laugh. “Trust me. Plot our course and ask around. I'd rather not tell the men where we're headed, but if the majority want to know what prize we're hunting, I'll make an announcement.”

“Aye, sir,” Joseph nodded, glancing at Flint again before he all but fled.

“You, are still a shit,” Flint said, casting and unimpressed look at Silver, who grinned so widely you could count every one of his teeth.

“Well, captain,” he said, his eyes twinkling, “I heard tell of a man who once nearly lost his ship by not telling his crew what they hunted. I'd be a fool to make the same mistake again.”

It was easy to tell that Flint was seriously debating the merits of killing him then and there and Silver only grinned wider.

-:-:-

“How much do you think is in here?” Silver asked, eyeing the freshly extracted chest. The landing had gone well, the men not being curious enough about their destination to make the inevitable ghost stories that came with the island unavoidable, and Flint had managed to take them right to the cave where the chest was buried without getting lost once, despite how much the forest must have changed in the last seventeen or so years.

“Jack mentioned years ago that it was about five hundred thousand pounds, about a tenth of the original haul,” Flint shrugged and Silver's eyes widened, staring at his former captain. He had no idea that Jack had managed to squirrel away that much.

“Sails!” their lookout suddenly shouted, the sound just barely filtering down into the cave opening.

“He's faster than I thought,” Flint said as they glanced at each other before quickly ushering the other two men out of the cave with the chest, and hurried through the jungle, back to their launch.

“Now the fun begins,” Silver grinned as they rowed back to the ship, drawing a smirk from Flint.

“Loose canvas,” Silver called as soon as they were within shouting distance of the ship. “Get us around the point and out of sight before she comes into the bay.”

They climbed aboard as the sails unfurled, catching the wind to push them around the bend in the cove, their tall masts hidden by the cliffs. Just as the last feet of the stern passed out of sight, Flint spotted the second ship coming into the cove.

“Do you think he'll go for it tonight?” Silver asked and Flint frowned, glancing at the sky before shaking his head.

“I doubt he'll risk it in the dark. I may be wrong though, Billy has always been...”

“Irresponsible?”

“I was going to say unpredictable,” Flint chuckled.

“I hope they maroon him,” Silver said, his eyes sparking in the dimming light. “When they find the chest gone, I hope they don't kill him. I want to do it myself.”

“Either way,” Flint said, “We'll likely be waiting until morning for any movement.”

“Do we really want to terrify him?” Silver asked, sharing a look with Flint. Flint raised one eyebrow.

“What did you have in mind?”

-:-:-

A party of seven men had landed on the shore, watched by two men from Silver's crew in a boat hidden among the jungle vines that hung all the way to the water at the base of the cliffs. They had pitched three tents and were beginning to settle in for the night at what would have been ten bells. As soon as the fire was banked, the men gave the signal and the crew began to move.

The moon was just a crescent in the sky and Silver used it to his advantage. His men were already used to working with little light, they had all signed on to this particular ship because they preferred night raids, so they moved swiftly and without error. The sails were lowered just enough to set them adrift and lanterns were lit.

Strips of cloth from spare sails had been cut up and tied to the rigging to give the effect of torn and damaged sails blowing free from their lines, eerie even to those on the ship who had assembled them. The lanterns were places around the deck and in the tops to create a glow about ship, making her look like a phantom on the dark water.

Six men began to rock a beam back and forth, creating the sound of wood creaking, while a group set up on the prow began to wail gently, making the sound of ghosts wandering the night. Near the helm Flint smirked, imagining what the men on the other ship were seeing as they slipped around the point and into the cove.

Shouts rang up through the night from the second ship and it was easy to see and hear the men scrambling, weighing anchor and trying to loose the sails as fast as they could, to run as fast as they could.

Three men from the shore were in the water, swimming for the ship, trying to get aboard before the men sailed without them. Billy stood on the beach with the other four, watching the ghost ship with wide eyes before he turned and fled into the trees.

“He's on the move,” Flint said and Silver shrugged, grinning as he watched the other ship flee as fast as it could.

“He's nowhere to run, and when we're done here, he'll have no ship. I've nowhere else to be,” he said with a wink. “I think I'd like to leave him a day or two.”

Flint rolled his eyes.

-:-:-

Hunting Billy on a small island wasn't difficult. Silver's men had fanned out readily, moving to push him back toward the leeward side of the island, ringing him like a caged animal. They had been ordered not to engage him, and if he tried to shoot at them, to duck. The other men were not so lucky. Of the four that had remained with Billy, two of them were taken out by Silver's crew and the other two were found dead by the hole that once held the treasure.

“He's spooked,” Flint grinned, fingers twitching on the pistol he held.

“Good,” Silver grinned, hopping forward almost silently in the dense brush. Flint almost wanted to make a comment, but he held his tongue. He'd once said Silver's days of sneaking up on people were behind him, he didn't need to point out that he'd been wrong. He was sure Silver had already thought it somewhere in his mind.

They continued to track Billy through the forest, the crew closing in on him like a wild animal until he was high up the cliffs, chased up the narrow path to the top, followed only by Flint and Silver. Finally they had him trapped, standing on a ledge at the end of a cave in the cliff, unable to catch his breath as he looked for any means of escape from the sounds following him. Silver glanced at Flint and they shared a nod and a smirk.

“Hello, Billy,” Silver said, emerging from the shadows. Billy gasped, taking a step back, his foot nearly flying out from under him, the edge of the cliff was so near. “Tell me,” Silver asked. “Did your men enjoy finding an empty hole in the ground?”

“How? You?” Billy asked, his face aghast. “No one knew where that treasure was, Flint never told you or you would have gone back for it years ago. There was no way you could have found it,” he gasped.

“Well,” Silver said with a grin. “There was one way.” He enjoyed the shock as Billy's eyes widened, flicking over his shoulder as he felt Flint moving from the shadows to stand beside him.

“No,” Billy whispered. “You died. You died years ago!” he nearly shouted, his voice thick with terror.

“What makes you think I haven't come back to haunt you, Billy Bones?” Flint asked, his voice deadly as he stepped forward. Billy almost took another step back, only just remembering he stood on the edge of a precipice.

“I don't believe in ghosts,” Billy said.

“Don't you?” Silver chuckled. “Because I think perhaps it's time you started.”

“Tell me, Billy, how would you like to die?” Flint asked and in a moment of what could only be sheer terror, Billy took a step back, hit foot meeting open air as he fell. He struck the water as the other two men leaned over the side of the cliff.

“That was less than satisfying,” Silver grumbled and Flint held up a hand.

“I pushed him into the sea during a tempest and dropped him from the highest crossbeam of the main mast and he still survived, I wouldn't be too optimistic that – there, see?”

Silver glanced down again and saw Billy sputtering on the surface. “Now can we hang him?” he asked petulantly as he watched the man trying to swim away, only to be intercepted by the crew waiting for him.

“Now we can retire,” Flint grinned as they headed back down the path toward the beach.

“I always knew you pushed him,” Silver muttered as he rolled his eyes and followed.

With nowhere to go, no means of escape, and his luck finally having run out, Billy was hauled from the sea and bound to the mast to await his 'trial'. The proceedings weren't much, given none of the men but Flint and Silver even knew Billy or what he had done, but after hearing the list of crimes Billy had committed, including multiple mutinies, it was unanimously voted that he be hung from the yardarm that very morning.

It didn't bring nearly as much satisfaction as Silver had hoped, but Flint sighed deeply, as if all was right in the world again.

“I feel as if just another morning has passed,” Silver sighed. “And you look like the world has just righted itself.”

Flint shrugged. “Well, I've wanted to see him dead for almost twenty years. I can take some satisfaction in it,” he said. Silver nodded waving over his quartermaster.

The crew were all given a hefty portion of the treasure and they set sail for the Maroon island to drop off some of the men who wanted shore time. The _Scott_ was small enough she only needed a crew of about ten when she wasn't hunting. On the island they took on a boy named Jim who had come from England and ended up on a pirate ship, then was dropped off at the Maroon camp, while two thirds of the rest of the crew departed. Flint stayed aboard while Silver visited his daughter, and when he was back on the deck, standing next to Flint again, he finally forced himself to ask the inevitable question.

“So...where to next?” Silver asked, not looking at Flint. He feared if he looked at the man, he'd see the regret that proceeded Flint telling him he was going back to Carolina, back home.

It felt good to be back on the water after so long, though, and Flint could feel the old rhythms returning, the longing to just turn your canvas to the wind and sail, sail until you fell of the edge of the world, if only to be free from all else.

“Did you now,” Flint said, staring out at the water. “That in all my time at sea, all those years, all those miles, the ports, the battles, the war, everything...” He paused, allowing the sentence to hang until Silver looked at him, eyes widening at the grin on Flint's face as the former captain turned to him.

“I've never been to Antigua.”

John Silver grinned.

**Author's Note:**

> So feel free to imagine that Silver and Flint go off and have a few more high seas adventures and eventually fall into bed together. Or not. But that's what I'm implying.
> 
> I’m on Tumblr [Beneath The Black Sails](http://www.beneaththeblacksails.tumblr.com)


End file.
